South African police are investigating allegations that the right-wing leader Eugene Terre’Blanche was killed after attempting to sexually assault two male workers on his farm.
A lawyer for one of the two suspects was quoted on Sunday as saying that the two accused men acted in self-defense after Terre’Blanche plied them with alcohol and made sexual advances.
Puna Moroko, attorney for 28-year-old Chris Mahlangu, told South Africa’s Sunday Times newspaper: “My instructions from my client are that there was some sodomy going on and it sparked the murder of Mr Terre’Blanche. This is going to form part of our defense during trial.”
Moroko added that Terre’Blanche had plied both workers with alcohol and tried to have sex “with one or both” of them.
“It is in the court record that Mr Terre’Blanche bought my client 18 Savannas [cider] and the other accused, who is still a minor, 13 Savannas before driving them to his farm. Mr Terre’Blanche bought himself a bottle of Smirnoff [vodka] at the same liquor store,” Moroko said.
Police confirmed that a sexual link was among many allegations being investigated for the killing.
“We are not going to focus on one thing,” said Musa Zondi, of the Hawks investigative unit. “We will investigate all pertinent facts that have a bearing on the matter.”
Attorney Zola Majavu, acting for the 15-year-old accused, would not comment on the sexual allegations, but said his client “has undergone all the necessary tests that I need to prove his case.”
He added: “I have consulted with my client and I am satisfied that something shocking happened on that day. I will disclose fully what my client told me happened during trial.”
Terre’Blanche was hacked and battered to death on 3 April and found with his trousers around his knees, exposing his genitals.
Police had earlier said a pay dispute had led to the killing.
General Jan Mabula, head of the Hawks in the Northwest Province, told the City Press newspaper the suspects’ clothes were to be examined as part of checks into whether there was a sexual link.
Terre’Blanche’s far-right Afrikaner Resistance Movement has rejected any suggestion of a homosexual link to the murder of its leader, who was one of the most vocal proponents of keeping South Africa’s races apart.
Archeologists in Peru on Thursday said they found the 5,000-year-old remains of a noblewoman at the sacred city of Caral, revealing the important role played by women in the oldest center of civilization in the Americas. “What has been discovered corresponds to a woman who apparently had elevated status, an elite woman,” archeologist David Palomino said. The mummy was found in Aspero, a sacred site within the city of Caral that was a garbage dump for more than 30 years until becoming an archeological site in the 1990s. Palomino said the carefully preserved remains, dating to 3,000BC, contained skin, part of the
‘WATER WARFARE’: A Pakistani official called India’s suspension of a 65-year-old treaty on the sharing of waters from the Indus River ‘a cowardly, illegal move’ Pakistan yesterday canceled visas for Indian nationals, closed its airspace for all Indian-owned or operated airlines, and suspended all trade with India, including to and from any third country. The retaliatory measures follow India’s decision to suspend visas for Pakistani nationals in the aftermath of a deadly attack by shooters in Kashmir that killed 26 people, mostly tourists. The rare attack on civilians shocked and outraged India and prompted calls for action against their country’s archenemy, Pakistan. New Delhi did not publicly produce evidence connecting the attack to its neighbor, but said it had “cross-border” links to Pakistan. Pakistan denied any connection to
TRUMP EFFECT: The win capped one of the most dramatic turnarounds in Canadian political history after the Conservatives had led the Liberals by more than 20 points Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney yesterday pledged to win US President Donald Trump’s trade war after winning Canada’s election and leading his Liberal Party to another term in power. Following a campaign dominated by Trump’s tariffs and annexation threats, Carney promised to chart “a new path forward” in a world “fundamentally changed” by a US that is newly hostile to free trade. “We are over the shock of the American betrayal, but we should never forget the lessons,” said Carney, who led the central banks of Canada and the UK before entering politics earlier this year. “We will win this trade war and
Armed with 4,000 eggs and a truckload of sugar and cream, French pastry chefs on Wednesday completed a 121.8m-long strawberry cake that they have claimed is the world’s longest ever made. Youssef El Gatou brought together 20 chefs to make the 1.2 tonne masterpiece that took a week to complete and was set out on tables in an ice rink in the Paris suburb town of Argenteuil for residents to inspect. The effort overtook a 100.48m-long strawberry cake made in the Italian town of San Mauro Torinese in 2019. El Gatou’s cake also used 350kg of strawberries, 150kg of sugar and 415kg of